Benji's Big Day
by catfoxy
Summary: Class reunions can be hell. Benji is quite aware of that fact. And he really does not want to re-meet the people who used to mock him during basic training. So it's up to his team to convince him to go to the reunion. And this time, they're coming along.


_Author's Note:_

_We all know how weird 'reunions' can be. Particularly those of the class reunion variety, where you see people again that you haven't seen in years. _

_Imagine Benji getting an invitation to such a reunion – from the school were he got his basic training as an agent all those years ago. Unfortunately, Benji isn't all that eager to see those people again. Because even back in basic, Benji always preferred computers to guns, which is why some classmates at that school used to mock him about his lack in combat skills. _

_Hence, Benji decides to ignore the invitation. _

_His only problem is that he never figured on his team finding out about it…_

_Summary:_

_Class reunions can be hell. Benji is quite aware of that fact. And he really does not want to re-meet the people who used to mock him during basic training. Well, leave it to his team to convince him to go to the reunion. And this time, they're coming along. _

**Benji's Big Day**

Ethan jogged up the stairs with a casual spring in his step. He was headed for Benji's room, because he wanted to give Benji the updated file for their next mission. Still glancing at the file in his hand, Ethan didn't even look at the door as he knocked on it, merely waiting a moment to hear the expected 'come on in' from inside the room.

But it didn't happen.

Ethan looked up from the file in his hand, as he realized that nobody was answering his knock.

Apparently, Benji wasn't there.

It was then that Ethan suddenly remembered what Benji had said earlier this morning. He had mentioned wanting to make a trip to the hardware store before noon to get some spare parts for his computer which would come in handy during their next mission.

Ethan figured he must have missed Benji by a few minutes.

Well, he would just put the file onto Benji's desk, so Benji would find it there once he came back.

Decision made, Ethan tactfully entered Benji's room, and steered directly towards the desk near the window, where he intended to put the file. But as he approached the chaos on Benji's desk, it actually took him a moment to find a spot that wasn't already filled with all kinds of papers and dismantled computer parts.

Discarding the idea to put the file onto one of the computer parts – he didn't want the file to slide off the metal - he finally found a spot that looked like it was stable enough to put the file on. That particular spot was only occupied by a small stack of unfolded documents, and a newspaper that was half-covering the lower part of the stack.

As Ethan reached forward to deposit the new mission file on that spot, he accidentally came in contact with the half-folded newspaper, so that it slid off the stack, revealing part of the letter that happened to be lying right underneath it. What happened next wasn't even on purpose, but – considering that Ethan was trained to take in details even without consciously looking for them – he happened to see the headline typed on the open letter.

It was an invitation to a class reunion.

He then saw the name of the school.

Wait a minute.

He knew that address.

Wasn't that the place where Benji got his basic training? That old CIA training facility where Benji was stuck for a while before the IMF got wind of his special skills? As far as Ethan remembered, the IMF had then quickly relocated Benji to an IMF facility, where he could better follow his calling of becoming a top-notch computer specialist.

Ethan looked at the letterhead again, to make sure he wasn't imagining things.

But the information on the letter remained the same:

It was an invitation to a reunion of Benji's old basic training class.

Ethan wondered why Benji hadn't mentioned it.

'Maybe he only got it today, and wanted to tell us later…' Ethan pondered.

But as Ethan glanced at the date of the letter, his assumption was quickly proven wrong.

The letter was dated two weeks ago.

And the invitation was for tonight.

-o-

"So, do you think he's gonna go?" Brandt asked, as he fixed himself a glass of orange juice in the team's kitchen.

Pouring the juice, Brandt glanced at Jane and Ethan, who were both sitting at the kitchen table, all of them pondering what to do with the information that Ethan had stumbled over by accident.

"I don't know…," Ethan eventually admitted, before adding with a sigh, "but since he didn't tell us, I get the feeling that he isn't exactly looking forward to that reunion."

"It's possible he simply forgot about it…maybe we could just ask him?" Jane offered, although she wasn't entirely sure about the idea.

"Ask who about what?" a happy voice suddenly piped in from the doorway.

Benji had just come back from his little shopping tour, clonking the main door shut behind him with the toe of his shoe and a clueless grin on his face.

His eager curiosity was met by three hesitant faces.

And considering that hesitation was not a normal reaction for any of these three most courageous people that Benji had ever known on the entire planet – it made Benji come to a hesitant stop just inside the kitchen door, his curious smile crumbling a tad.

Benji didn't know what was going on, but it obviously had something to do with him.

'Okay, that's strange,' Benji thought, and in his mind he instantly went through anything he might have done wrong.

Surely Ethan couldn't have found out yet about that highly expensive audio scrambler Benji had bought out of the team's budget just last week...had he?

No, surely not. Not even Ethan worked that fast. But then what else could be…

Then it hit Benji like a truck.

'Oh no.'

He had left that letter on his desk. And from the look on his team members' faces, one of them must have seen it.

Jane could spot the exact moment that Benji realized what this was about. And since Jane was probably the most empathetic person out of all of them to ask Benji about this, she was the one to put out the conclusion that they had come to:

"You're not going, aren't you?" Jane asked sympathetically, already knowing the answer from Benji's face.

"Err… no…I don't think I will…" Benji confirmed Jane's suspicion with an evasive flicker of his gaze towards the other two members of his team. He saw Brandt looking at him with a questioning expression. And sure enough, Brandt's own question followed suit:

"Why not? I mean, rehashing the good old times with some friends from school, that should be fun, right?"

There was some deeper hesitation in Benji's eyes, a detail that Ethan picked up instantly.

"Wasn't it? Fun, I mean..?" Ethan softly asked Benji, starting to realize what might be the reason behind Benji's aversion to that particular reunion.

With a sigh, Benji gave in. He knew that he couldn't keep this from his friends any longer – they would connect the dots on their own before long anyway, so he might as well just tell them.

"Well, it wasn't exactly fun. You see…I wasn't always this athletic as I am now in my capacity as a full field agent."

Benji smirked dryly, knowing that his friends would understand what he was saying.

"Back in basic training, before I came to the IMF, I was just a geek who knew a lot about computers. But combat skills? All that physical stuff wasn't exactly my strong suit. Everybody else in that class was always faster, stronger and better, and they let me know it at every opportunity. I was just good at hacking into things, you know?"

"Well, then just tell them that you are better now and that you are a– " Brandt began.

The look that both Ethan and Benji directed at Brandt, however, made Brandt instantly realize what he was saying.

"Right. Sorry. I forgot – No IMF clearance, no bragging to outsiders."

IMF was top secret. Field agent status was top secret. Strictly need to know. And class reunions weren't considered a sufficient need in the eyes of the IMF.

"Well, okay," Brandt admitted the flaw in his idea, "maybe you can't tell them that you're a field agent now - a very capable one, I might add – but perhaps if you could just show up there and let them _see_ that you are pretty tough-looking now, wouldn't that work?" Brandt theorized.

Jane nodded slowly, before looking back towards Benji, letting him know that she, too, thought that this idea might actually work.

Benji, however, was not convinced.

"Aaw no…I don't think so…those guys were not the listening kind. They were more the 'let's step outside and show me what you got' kind. And while I do know how to defend myself by now, I'm not so sure I could stand up to them in a fight. And I don't want to have to fight." Benji sighed. "I just don't wanna be mocked by those guys again." There was a hint of despair in Benji's voice, before he concluded with a sigh, "So, it's better not to go there at all."

The words were said with a finality that made even Ethan refrain from trying to convince Benji otherwise. So they all silently watched as Benji took his shopping bag with the new equipment and slowly headed down the hall and around the far corner into the living room.

After Benji had left the kitchen, the remaining team members simply looked at each other, for a moment lost for words.

At first, the only expression on their faces was shock. But it wasn't long before that shock turned to anger. Anger at whoever was responsible for Benji's fear to go to the reunion.

Almost imperceptibly, that anger was undermined by determination.

And then Ethan had an idea.

-o-

Benji spent a few hours working on his laptop in the living room, adjusting the new spare parts to fit perfectly with the existing systems. He didn't see hide or hair from the others for as long as he was in the living room. One time he thought he heard the main door open and close down the hallway, but since he wasn't much in the mood for company at the moment, he simply chose to keep focused on his work.

About three hours later, Benji went back up into his room. He wanted to freshen up and get his other laptop off the charger. And as he went up there, he also planned on doing something he should have done two weeks ago.

Destroy that darn invitation.

As he unloaded his laptop onto his couch, and pulled the other laptop from the power socket, he glanced over to his desk to see where he had left the invitation. Probably right on the desk, if one of his team mates had noticed it so easily. But as he glanced over there, he couldn't spot it right away. So he walked over to his desk and started looking across the surface in earnest. When that didn't bring the desired result, he even began moving some piles on the desk – a venture he usually tried to avoid – but the invitation remained elusive.

'Where the…?" he began murmuring to himself.

"Looking for this?" a friendly voice suddenly asked from the half-open doorway behind him.

As Benji turned around he saw Jane.

He did, however, have to look twice, because at first he thought he was imagining things.

Nope.

The image remained the same.

Jane was wearing a dress. A _spectacular_ dress.

Even more interesting was the fact that in her left hand, she was holding up his invitation, the one he had been looking for. And in her right hand, she was holding a tuxedo that looked like it might fit him. In fact, it looked like it would fit him to a tee. Benji was not sure what this meant, but he was getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach…

"Uhm…what does that mean?" Benji asked cautiously, looking back and forth between Jane's dress and the tuxedo in her hand.

Jane, in turn, simply smiled knowingly.

"It means you're going to that class reunion, and you're gonna have some fun tonight."

"I'm sorry, I thought I heard you say I'm – " Benji stuttered, thinking he heard wrong, but as the smile on Jane's face turned into a nodding grin, Benji resolutely summed up his final answer: "oh no, no way…_absolutely_ not."

"Sorry, Benji, that objection comes a bit too late now, the others are already dressed." Jane smirked.

"Wha-?"

Benji's jaw went slack, as he suddenly saw Brandt and Ethan stepping into his room, as well. They were already dressed in tuxedos, featuring the same color and style as the one Jane was dangling in her hand. Expensive. Good-looking. Dressed to kill.

Oi.

They were serious about this.

Benji tried one last attempt of pretending he was just a bystander in all of this.

"Uh, do I wanna know where the three of you are going?" he cautiously asked Ethan and Brandt, hoping desperately they would tell him they were going out alone to some party he didn't know about.

"Same place as you, my friend, same place as you." Brandt smiled mischievously, effectively putting Benji's hope to rest.

Ethan simply nodded at Brandt's words, before spelling it out a little more clearly, just in case Benji thought they were joking. With a perfect mixture of understanding and steely determination he addressed Benji:

"_You_ are gonna go to that reunion, and we're coming with you – and you're gonna have a good evening. I promise you that."

The way Ethan said that last line, Benji almost believed him. There was something definite about the way Ethan had said it. Like he was personally guaranteeing that Benji would be safe and that the reunion would not be an evening Benji would regret.

Benji still had his doubts about that.

But, seeing the determined faces of his friends, he knew that there was not a chance in hell he could get out of this now. When you had Ethan Hunt, William Brandt and Jane Carter all teaming up against you – all you could do was surrender.

So, it looked like he was going to that reunion after all.

Damn.

-o-

As they stepped out of the car – a nice black limo that Brandt had apparently organized somewhere on short notice – they came to stand in front of the large villa where the reunion was to be held, and they all looked appreciatively at their surroundings. The spacious garden grounds around the main building were impressively beautiful. Jane was pleasantly surprised by the location. Benji simply groaned, knowing what was awaiting him in there.

He was so gonna regret having gone along with this.

As they all walked through the main gate, they stopped just inside the entrance to get Benji's name tag from a reception desk that had been set up there by two young ladies. One lady checked a list, the other one wrote Benji's name on a white plastic lapel tag. Both smiled at Benji in a friendly manner. They were too young to be part of the reunion; they were simply doing their job.

As Benji accepted his name tag and put it on his jacket, he thought he saw a quick glance that Brandt threw towards Ethan, and which he thought was countered by a subtle nod from Ethan. But before Benji could even begin to ponder if he really saw what he thought he saw, the expressions on Ethan's and Brandt's faces were already back to pleasant smiles, with not a care in the world, and nothing out of the ordinary.

'Okay, the evening has just begun and I'm already jumping at shadows…great, Benji, really great.' Benji thought to himself.

He decided to ask Jane - who was standing right next to the bowl with the unlabeled plastic name tags – if she had noticed anything about Ethan and Brandt, but just as he looked over to her, he saw that she wasn't even looking up. She was just reaching into her handbag.

'Did she just put something in there?' Benji wondered confused.

And just why had she brought that thing along anyway? He knew Jane didn't like handbags. So why bring one?

It was all a bit much to take in for Benji.

'Don't think about it, Benji, you will never understand why women do what they do, so just accept it,' he told himself.

So, in the end he just dropped the entire line of thought. It was better that way. Besides, he had bigger problems.

As they moved further into the villa, and through it, towards the back veranda where a few people were already scattered in small groups outside in the garden, Benji realized two things. One, they were still pretty early. And two, he had just spotted a bar on the far side of the room.

So, being the smart guy that he was, Benji came to a simple conclusion: If his team was gonna make him stay here for a while, he might as well get drunk as quickly as he could, to lessen the pain of what would come later, once the majority of the party guests arrived.

Decision made, Benji addressed Ethan, and he hoped his voice was steadier than he actually felt:

"Guys. I would really like something to drink before I go out there."

Benji still wasn't convinced that he should have come here at all. And he was also a bit afraid that his team was gonna make him go out there right away.

But, to his surprise, Jane actually offered to go with him over to the bar. Brandt and Ethan didn't look like they intended to stop him, either. In fact, they were busy glancing at the view of the garden behind the house, and only shortly looked back at Benji with an encouraging smile.

"Sure, Benji. You just go ahead and…we'll be around." Ethan's and Jane's gazes crossed for a subtle second, but before Benji could think about it, Brandt was also giving Benji the go ahead with an encouraging "Yeah, what Ethan said. Don't worry about it, we'll just catch up later."

Benji couldn't fully decipher the slight twinkle he then saw in Jane's eye, but he figured his team mates were simply amused by how his pit-stop at the bar was only delaying the inevitable.

Benji never saw the more meaningful look that Brandt and Ethan exchanged behind his back, just as Jane turned to accompany Benji to the bar. He also never noticed how Brandt discreetly snatched something out of Jane's handbag, only to keep it hidden behind his back until Benji was safely out of sight.

When Benji and Jane were gone, Brandt looked at Ethan once more.

"You ready?"

The determined expression on Ethan's face was more of an answer to that question than any words could have ever been.

-o-

It was a much braver Benji who excited the villa about seven minutes later through the south doors, leading to the gardens. His walk was just a bit more confident. His back just a little straighter. And his step just a tad smoother.

He was headed outside at a rather goal-oriented pace, walking directly towards one of the clusters of people chatting outside. He was approaching them without hesitation. He had left that behind at the bar, together with Jane. With a smooth flick of his wrist, he adjusted the name tag on his tuxedo jacket until it was perfectly visible, and then he walked right up to one guy in particular.

The guy was wearing an old-looking, but probably very expensive snake leather jacket. He was clearly the leader of the pack. And, as it happened, the guy was just turning his head to look up at whoever dared to approach his group of six people.

As the snake guy looked up, he saw Benji. And Benji looked right back at him.

It took the snake guy a moment to realize who he was looking at, but when he did, his reaction was instantaneous. He turned to his fellow mates with an oily chuckle.

"Hey, look who's here, guys… remember the man? This guy used to think he would one day be able to save the world like James Bond. Gentlemen… say hello to Geek. Ben Geek." The snake guy laughed at his own bad joke.

Benji didn't laugh.

In fact, the expression on Benji's face was hard to read. But then a slow smile crept onto Benji's face, as Benji began to speak.

"Yeah, you're right. It's a good thing Bond's job was already taken. It sure would have been a disappointment to the Queen if they would have had to call you for it."

The expression on snake guy's face suddenly turned to stone.

"What…did you just say?" Snake guy asked perplexed.

"You heard me," Benji replied smoothly, "And I hear you still haven't quite learned how to spell yet. I must have told you a million times, _Geek_ is spelt differently than _Bond_. You never quite figured that out, didn't ya?

That got the snake guy to actually blink. Three times. He clearly hadn't expected that kind of the audacity from the geek who always used to cower before him back in the old days. A vicious gleam flared up in snake guy's eyes. He really didn't appreciate being made fun of. Especially not by someone like Benji.

Benji, however, seemed to be not afraid of him at all, as if today was as good a day as any to settle this once and for all.

"If you think you have something to say to me, let's settle this right now, why don't we?" Benji informed the snake guy with just the right touch of provocation.

Snake guy thought he wasn't hearing right. Dumbfounded, he looked at his friends and then back at the still smiling Benji.

"Are you suicidal?" snake guy asked half-sneering.

"Nope. Why? Are you?" Benji countered easily.

That was the last straw. Snake guy boiled over.

Only the quick reaction of one of the other men in snake guy's group stopped the man from going at Benji right then and there. When snake guy controlled his anger for just long enough to glare at Benji, one of the group suggested:

"Okay, let's go behind the house…I think you two can easily settle this there."

Which is why, about two minutes later, a small cluster of six men, plus snake guy and Benji, found themselves in a secluded piece of the garden, somewhere behind the house, where they couldn't be seen by any of the other guests.

Out of earshot and in the perfect place to settle this 'in private' before they could all go back to the party, snake guy expected this to be over shortly. He didn't even take off his expensive jacket.

Having his men in a half circle around him, snake guy initiated a sudden attack at Benji. He clearly intended to twist Benji's arm behind his back, so Benji would have to surrender if he wanted to keep his arm. But when snake guy moved, Benji's arm was long out of reach. Instead, Benji's arm suddenly came back into view from a completely different angle, as a well-placed elbow hit snake guy in the ribs, followed by a swift kick to the knee, which made snake guy lose his footing. Snake guy landed hard on the ground. It hadn't taken more than three seconds total.

Snake guy looked like he didn't know what hit him. But his surprise only lasted a moment.

When his full anger got the better of him, he was back on his feet instantly – only to be brought down on his butt again two seconds later with some hits from Benji that were so fast, the men around them barely saw what happened. The result, however, was quite obvious. Snake guy was breathing dust. And Benji was kneeling on his back, with a steady grip on the downed man's arm – twisting it just far enough until he was sure he had snake guy's attention.

"Alright…now that this is settled, are you listening to me?" Benji inquired casually, not even out of breath, but clearly on top of the situation. The only sign he ever was in a fight at all was a slight smudge of dirt on his tuxedo cuff.

Snake guy was smart enough to know when an opponent was superior to him. So, in response, snake guy simply nodded his acknowledgement, signaling that he was surrendering.

Benji nodded.

"Good, then I want you to remember one thing: I never want to hear another word about this…in fact, I'm gonna forget it ever happened. We're here to have a good time. So let's have a good time and respect each other. Are we clear on this?" Benji said, his voice friendly but with a clear undertone of steel.

The other men around them realized they were witnessing a moment of truth. Benji sure had changed. He was no longer the guy who could be pushed around.

Snake man was not exactly the brightest light bulb in the history of enlightenment, but even he realized that it was better to accept the offer. And he did so without another word of protest. And so did the men around him.

Benji had made his point.

-o-

On the north end of the gardens, another group of bullies was witness to a similar incident. In contrast to the other clash, this one actually involved a gun. But it was over just as fast. In the end, it was Benji who held the discarded gun safely in hand, while the guy who previously owned it was lying breathlessly on the ground, sucking in gulps of air after having been hit right in the very tender spot between his ribs and his lung. Again, it was Benji who hadn't even broken a sweat.

The few guys standing around their bully-friend could only watch in amazement at how fast their old leader had taken a fall. Particularly at the hands of a man they all remembered to be nothing but a geek. Obviously, that had changed. And it looked like they better treated that former 'geek' with respect now. He had obviously earned it.

Once again, an offer was made that was hard to ignore - just like the threat in Benji's voice.

"I don't wanna hear another word about this. You forget this ever happened, then I forget we ever had any trouble with each other. And then we can all be friends. Clear?" Benji's voice left no doubt that he intended to have further words with anyone who refused that deal.

"Clear…" a breathless reply came from the ground, as the guy in the dust – who should really have put less gel into his hair, because it sure looked cheesy – signaled that he was giving up.

Good.

Then that was settled. Benji smiled happily, as he left the group behind to head back the way he came from. With a softly whistled tune on his lips, he put the confiscated gun at the narrow of his back as he walked, smoothly straightening his tuxedo jacket over it so no one would be bothered by it.

He also checked to make sure that the neat name tag on his jacket hadn't gotten scratched in the fight. Then he casually straightened the cuffs of his shirt. Perfect. Not even a smudge there, either.

Jane would be proud of him.

-o-

Back at the bar, Jane looked on in amusement as Benji downed his third beer in a row. He wasn't really drunk. But he was certainly happy enough not to notice that Jane was constantly keeping an eye on their surroundings, particularly in the direction of the gardens and down the path that led to the area behind the house.

When Benji finally finished his third beer, he sighed loudly.

"Okay, I think we can go outside now. I'm ready to be fed to the lions."

Jane just smiled at the slightly martyr-expression on Benji's face. But, after giving her watch a subtle glance, she decided it probably had been enough time by now. With an amused twinkle in her eyes, she didn't stop Benji as he got off the barstool.

"Sure, let's go outside and mingle a bit." Jane encouraged Benji with a smile, hoping it would take Benji's fear off his mind.

But she could see Benji was still nervous.

So nervous in fact, that he never even noticed how Jane was no longer carrying her handbag with her as they left the bar.

-o-

By the time Benji and Jane stepped onto the garden grounds, the lawn was filled with several more clusters of people, some of them chatting animatedly, some laughing, and some just remembering the good ol' times.

Together with Jane, Benji began moving down a path that led across the lawn. He still wasn't sure which group to approach first, but he could feel Jane steering him discreetly towards one particular group.

'Oh no…'

Benji saw something that almost made him break free of Jane's subtle guidance. He had spotted someone standing in that group over there. He certainly remembered the snake leather jacket.

Frank Parker.

Better known as Frank the Prank.

The guy owed Benji more than one shirt. Back in the days, every time Benji had tried to escape one of the fights instigated by Frank, it had cost Benji one of his shirts - either because it was torn in the escape, or because it got painted with the word 'geek' if Frank had a pen on him at the time.

Benji couldn't remember how many shirts he had had to replace during his time at that school. He did, however, remember that it was always an unpleasant experience. And Frank was very much an unpleasant character to be around.

That was why, as Benji approached the small group together with Jane, he wasn't exactly looking forward to what would happen next. And indeed, as soon as one member of the group happened to look up and in their direction, the whole group instantly quieted noticeably.

'Okay, now they're gonna kill me.' Benji flinched back instinctively.

But to Benji's surprise, no one in the group said a disrespectful word towards him. In fact, everyone looked like they were rather careful not to make any moves that could be considered threatening. And the biggest mystery was Frank himself.

Frank looked… friendly.

Not the 'mean' kind of friendly, but honestly friendly.

Benji could tell the difference. He merely didn't understand what had made Frank react that way.

'Is he trying to put the past behind us and start with a fresh plate?'

Benji almost couldn't believe it.

But that was what it looked like. And Benji was…glad. Maybe he really had underestimated this class reunion thing. Maybe these people had changed for the better over the years.

In the company of Jane, whom Benji introduced as a colleague, Benji was then awarded several respectful nods. They obviously also hadn't expected him to show up with such pretty female company.

In the end, they all chatted amicably for a while, and Benji actually found himself enjoying the conversation, which mostly dealt with the funnier times of their basic training days, like for example how they used to play tricks on their tutors.

Eventually, Benji excused himself from the conversation, not wanting to push his luck too much. It was going pretty well, people were nice to him, and he was actually beginning to relax a bit. Still, he wanted to take things slow. So he decided to move on, to see who else had come to the reunion.

Again, Jane went with him like a shadow. And he was glad she did that. It was good to know that she had his back. After a while, Benji even noticed that people were actually looked enviously at him, when they realized that he had the undivided attention of such a good-looking woman.

Benji had to admit he actually liked that feeling of being envied for once.

As they continued to wander around the garden grounds, Benji suddenly noticed another man in the distance. In fact, aside from Frank, that guy had been the other main troublemaker during his time in basic training.

The gel in the man's hair was visible from miles away. It was as unmistakable as an ID card.

Tony Copa.

Benji _really_ didn't want to re-meet this guy.

So he subtly tried to steer Jane around that particular group of men, but even as he tried it, he suddenly realized that Jane just kept on walking, as if she was actually _aiming_ for that group. And she was mercilessly tugging him along.

Again, Benji didn't feel comfortable as they approached the small cluster of people. And again he was more than surprised when the greeting he received was a peaceful one all around. In fact – there was not a hint of aggressiveness in Tony's voice, or from anyone else in the group for that matter.

'Maybe I do radiate a little more confidence now as a full field agent, even if can't tell them what I do for a living…' Benji wondered.

Whatever the reason for their change in attitude towards him, all these people sure seemed to look at him differently now. There was no ridicule. They actually talked to him as an equal.

And once again, Benji – backed by Jane – spent a good twenty minutes chatting with his former classmates, exchanging pleasant stories and laughing together about shared memories.

After that, Benji felt confident enough to move around the garden more freely, without any more fear. Jane could practically see the weight of anxiety fall off Benji's shoulders, and – seeing how he was ready to actually enjoy this reunion now – Jane excused herself for the moment, telling Benji that she had just now realized that her handbag was still back at the bar.

Benji assured her that he would be fine on his own now, and that she truly needn't worry about him anymore. In fact, he was looking forward to chatting with his old classmates some more. As Benji watched Jane hurry back towards the villa, he was actually so comfortable with the whole situation that he couldn't help a relaxed chuckle.

'Leave it to Jane to bring a handbag to a party, and then misplace the darn thing at the first opportunity.'

-o-

As soon as Jane was out of Benji's sight, she slowed down again from a hurried rush to a simple walk. Once she reached the villa, she then casually strolled over to the bar. And, sure enough, she spotted her handbag.

'Not exactly where I left it, but it'll do,' she chuckled to herself.

She walked over to the handbag lying on a lone barstool in the corner of the room, and – grabbing the bag – she quickly checked inside.

She could see the two crumpled masks in there, now both torn after use, and the two previously empty name tags, now both reading _Benji Dunn_, in two different sets of handwriting - and she knew that Brandt and Ethan had accomplished their mission.

That left only one question. Where were they now?

As she glanced at the bar mirror in front of her, she happened to spot the reflection of two good-looking guys right behind her, who were sitting at one of the corner tables with a perfect view of her handbag - while they were casually sipping a beer each.

'Okay, that answers that question.' Jane chuckled.

As she turned around, she saw that her two teammates clearly didn't have a care in the world. In fact, they looked like two cats who just dined on canaries. She could almost see the imaginary yellow feathers at the corners of their mouths, as they both grinned at her with a look that seemed to say 'what took you so long?'

If the concept of 'so much for work, now let's party' ever required a picture-perfect illustration, the image of Ethan Hunt and William Brandt right at this moment would have fit the bill to a tee.

They had clearly moved on to the 'good time' part of the evening.

Smiling to herself, Jane shouldered her handbag and sauntered over to them.

"So, I take it you boys are done?" she asked with a smirk.

"Oh yeah," Brandt nodded affirmatively, "we're done. Completely." Brandt added with a sly smile, which only faltered a bit when he had to rearrange the gun at the small of his back once more, because frankly, that thing was starting to get on his nerves. _And_ it was wrinkling his jacket. He should have just taken the damn bullets out of it and handed the damn thing back to the guy. Now he was stuck with it until he could hand it over to the IMF armory tomorrow.

But, other than that, Brandt was perfectly fine with how the evening had gone so far.

Ethan looked equally content.

He was merely casually flexing the fingers on his right hand, like he was still shaking out the remainders of a little 'workout' - the kind you normally did with a punching bag. As Jane gave him a raised eyebrow at the slight smudge on the cuff of his rented tux – which _she_ had rented for them - he simply grinned right back at her, as if he was saying 'sorry, couldn't be helped'.

'Men.' Jane sighed wordlessly.

And she could swear Ethan was reading her thoughts, because he was now actually smirking at her. Well, that was Ethan Hunt for you. Whenever you felt like you absolutely wanted to strangle him, he simply disarmed you with that smile of his.

But you had to hand it to the man. His plan had actually worked out. And not bad at all. In fact, seeing Benji out there actually having a good time was definitely worth the effort – up to and including an extra cleaning bill for the tuxedos.

Since it had all worked out so perfectly, Jane was even willing to forgive Ethan for having talked her into playing the decoy for their little charade. Not that she wouldn't have wanted in on the plan anyway. But she had to make sure those boys didn't start to think they could win _every_ argument with her. As the only woman in a team of some pretty headstrong men, you had to keep the guys on their toes every now and then.

But tonight, she was willing to make an exception.

Tonight they were all here for Benji.

And, as if he was reading Jane's thoughts once again, Ethan then clapped himself on the knee once; signaling them that it was time to mingle.

"Alright, let's find ourselves a certain computer specialist, and see if he's gonna introduce us to some old friends of his," Ethan chuckled softly, grabbing his beer as he got up.

"I have a feeling he's gonna have the night of his life." Brandt got up from his seat with a chuckle as well, taking his beer with him as he rose.

Once they all stood, the three of them exchanged knowing glances. There would be no disturbances of the peace tonight. They would make sure of it.

Ethan then held out his hand for Jane, offering her his left side.

"Shall we?"

"We shall." Jane smirked, and with Brandt mirroring Ethan's action on Jane's other side, the two men perfectly framed the lady in their midst, as the three of them moved out towards the garden.

They would make sure Benji's class reunion was going to be an entirely joyful experience. And if there was anyone left out there who intended to mess with Benji in any way, they would identify the problem before it even got to Benji, and they would deal with. Discreetly, as always.

After all, that's what team mates were for, right?

-o-

_Epilogue:_

The next morning, Benji woke up in his room, still a bit hung over, but generally feeling great. The reunion had been a wonderful experience. He would have never thought he'd ever have such a good time with people that, only a few years ago, he had tried to avoid as best as he could, because they used to mock him every chance they got. But last night, they certainly treated him as an equal. And he liked that. He liked it a lot.

He had also introduced his team members to some of his old friends. Everybody had gotten along really well, and it had been a pleasant evening all around. By the time Benji had caught up with some other friends from his former tech class, his team had split up a bit to mingle, leaving Benji in the safety of his old computer class colleagues.

But whenever Benji began to worry that his teammates might have left completely, he always saw one of them inexplicably surface again somewhere nearby. Almost like they knew when he was looking for them. Sometimes it was Brandt, sometimes it was Jane, and sometimes Ethan. Benji wasn't sure how they did that, but it was a reassurance that he appreciated a lot.

In fact, now that he was back home, he really wanted to thank his team for having made him go to that reunion. He had been afraid of walking into trouble there, but they had proven him wrong.

The word 'trouble' didn't even exist in Benji's world at the moment.

At least Benji thought so until he suddenly heard a distinct voice floating up to him from downstairs.

The voice was unmistakable, both in tone and volume.

Ethan. On the warpath.

And he really sounded…irked.

"He spent 3000$ dollars for an audio scrambler?... BENJI!"

Okay. So maybe there was a _little_ trouble left in Benji's life…

THE END

_A/N: _

_Alright, now I can tell you: At first I intended to write a story where Benji finally gets to wear a mask. That idea fell through, however, when I realized it might actually be more fun to put Benji-masks on Ethan and Brandt instead. The result of this you just read.__ LOL_


End file.
